Responsibility and Competence in Political Ethics

At present, our society is globalized, chaotic, changing, and also highly affected by individualization. That is, it is more difficult for out society to reach goals or conclusions collectively as one nation or one society. Under the situation, society needs political leaders to gather individual values, interests and opinions, and to take a lead in making collective decisions in the proper manner. Political leaders are required to have ability of making decisions and acting in the best way for society. Their responsibility is high even for future generations. According to Weber there are two categories of ethics pertaining to politics and to political leaders. One is the "ethic of ultimate ends" and the other is the "ethic of responsibility". "Ethic of responsibility" of political leaders is considered as a critical element. It is perceived as a kind of ability to consider possible social options and their impact, and also to take responsibility of their consequences in the future. In this context, it is very well compatible to the idea of ethical competence. It binds together philosophy and modern empirical research on ethical decision making, opening up for interventions like training and education for political leaders.